Man it has been soooooooooo long since I’ve written in here!! I’d apologize but it’s my blog and I’ll do what I please!!

Anyways… the problem with writing now is it has been so long that this entry will probably be huge… and will miss SO much because, well lets face it, my memory is horrible! I suppose I’ll try a different approach. I’m not going to do this chronologically but in little categories. Maybe it will help organize my thoughts??

FAMILY

My biggest news by far is that the McLaren clan will be expanding by 1 in the middle of June! So far the pregnancy has gone good (Well I think it has!). Deb is measuring a few weeks ahead but the ultrasound says she’s bang on for June 15th. We also got a peek at the little gaffer’s wedding tackle… It’s A Boy!! William Riker Alan will be his name! Have to keep up with the Star Trek theme and both Deb and I love the name  Kathryn is so cute because she is always talking to William or about him. “We have to get yogurt for William” or “We have to get diapers for William” or “I’m going to change and carry William around when he’s born”. She really can’t wait to be a big sister! Patrick on the other hand is a little more subdued but that’s really par for the course with him. He’s looking forward to having a little brother but he’s already done the older brother thing so it’s not as exciting for him!

Deb is doing quite well and is counting down the days until she is done work; probably about 8 as I am writing this but I could be off by a couple days. She has decided to take an early mat leave, then will probably quit her job and become a stay at home mom for the kids for the next several years. Her going back to work was kind of an experiment and now that she’s done both, she’s come to the decision that her and our family is best served with her running our household from home. I had left the decision totally up to her and would have supported her either way, but I think this was the decision I was hoping she would make  I Love her so much and just want her to be happy!

Patrick is doing great and is thriving in JK! Deb and I are always amazed with how quickly he can pick up the academic stuff! His reading and writing are incredible and we take turns reading each other stories at night! His social abilities are really coming along now and it’s great to watch him “pretend play” with Kathryn! His grammar and communication skills are also leaping ahead which I also attribute to JK. My only beef with him is he thinks he should be growing up a lot faster then he is!

Kathryn, our social princess, is also doing great! She’s still has another year to go before she enters the public school system but Deb and I both think she is probably ready now! She is basically running the daycare she goes to now and has about 6-8 “babies” she takes care of when she gets home! She is definitely “Mommies Girl” and helps run the household! I think she is going to miss going to the daycare when Deb becomes a stay at home mom again but only for about 2 seconds!

Branching outwards a little bit, my little sister had a beautiful little girl named Abigail and got married to her long time partner (boyfriend, fiancé, etc) James this past year. Abby is just now learning to stand and walk because she HATES being stationary. Just ask Boo and James about this because when Abby was super tiny, it seemed the only time she was happy was when she was in their arms and they were MOVING!

My Mom and Dad are also doing quite well. Mom is still working for Bruce Power but at a satellite office in Port Elgin so her commute is only a couple minutes. Granted she still has to put up with a lot of bullshit that Bruce Power seems to be a magnate for! Dad is enjoying retirement properly now that he quit that dinky little job at Walmart. He may go back one day but for now, it’s golf, golf and more golf when he isn’t picking up Patrick from school on Monday and Wednesdays (I don’t know who enjoys it more, Patrick or Grampy!)

That about does it for my side of the Family!

WORK

Work is work I suppose. I’m still of the mind that I’ve got a job and not a career. A career to me is some place you go and get paid for doing something you really enjoy. I don’t particularly enjoy my work but it pays the bills so I put up with it. I’ve recently completed my qualifications (took a few years longer then planned but oh well). With that came a bit of a pay bump which was nice. It also qualified me for becoming a UTL (essentially a work group supervisor) so I decided to go for that as well since it was an extra 12% pay raise which is all pensionable. That got processed rather quickly since I was essentially already doing the job for the last couple years. I’m still working the Monday to Thursday, 6:30-4:30 which is nice if not a bit early. But it gets me home in time to relax and make supper.

As I mentioned before, Deb is pretty well done work (work in which she gets paid anyways!) and will be a stay at home mom very shortly. She is really looking forward to it even though in a lot of ways, it’s more difficult. I think though we just look at it as work that’s outcome is a 100% towards our family and house.

MISCELLANEOUS

Big news on the misc. front is we just recently purchased a new vehicle. With William coming shortly, we wanted to upgrade our van with something a little bit more roomy with easier ability to move around seats. With this in mind, we traded in our Kia Sedona (which we love and will miss) with a 2010 Grand Dodge Caravan SE. We got a real good deal on it and signed up for a 7 year/80,000 km warranty plus a 5 year rust protection warranty. 80,000 km may not seem like much to most people but we’re trading in our 6 year old Sedona with less then 70,000 on it. We really don’t do a whole lot of travelling!

In other news, my project for this summer (or more likely spring) is to build a big play fort for the kids in our backyard. I’m planning to have it a couple levels with a sandbox, swings, stairs and a spiral slide coming off the side. I’m hoping I don’t go too overboard with it but who knows. We wanted something in the backyard in which the kids will have a blast and so that Deb wouldn’t have to be constantly going to a park with the kids while William was still so young. This way, we can stick to the backyard for this summer. I’m hoping to have it done at the end of May but time will tell!

Well… I think that’s about it for now! I’m sure I’ve forgotten about a thousand things but it happens. I’ll try not to leave this so long next time!